Iran Guards condemn "insult" to religious leaders

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards said on Sunday the force would not tolerate any “insult” to late revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, a semi-official Iranian news agency reported.

The statement added to mounting pressure on the reformist opposition, after official media said pro-opposition students had destroyed pictures of Khomeini and other Iranian leaders during anti-government protests last Monday.

“We, as followers of Imam Khomeini, will not tolerate ... any shortcoming in identifying, trying and punishing those behind the insult and those who carried it out,” ILNA news agency quoted a Guards statement as saying. It also accused “foreign enemies” of involvement.